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I set it down in the passenger seat and slammed the door.
Chapter 28
Wade
The darkness of my room suffocated me as I lay awake, too warm for the blankets and too cold to go without them. I didn’t understand what was happening. I couldn’t fathom what could have caused the shift in Ray tonight, the looks she’d given me, the way her eyes had glistened in all the wrong ways when she’d set the Raven on my passenger seat.
Something about it had felt so final. Sure, we’d discussed things ending when the contract was signed, but that felt like a lifetime ago. That was well before I’d had her beneath me in my bed, every inch of her filled with me, and she’d said those words that had broken every shield I’d had in place for years. I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to go back to how it was before.
The way she’d said it, the break in her voice, the need within it, had felt so real, so desperate. Terrified that I wouldn’t want it, too. Had that just been a ploy? A part of her own little game she was playing, an act of revenge for being so condescending toward her when I’d hired her?
I replayed the conversation with Zane. The words I’d said about her to him were harsh, and in all honesty, I’d just wanted him off my back. But none of it had been true. Hell, it hurt me to say them. But I wondered if she felt the way I was claiming to, if she was just in it for the money at the end of the day.
My chest ached at the thought of it.
I’d spent days building a life with her in my head, envisioning at least the next few months, maybe even years, if we got to that point. I’d have worshipped the ground she walked on if she’d let me, but now I was left with nothing but an empty bed and pain in my leg, the stress of it all flaring the old wound again. I didn’t want to be without her.
Maybe Zane was right. Maybe I’d walked myself into that same situation from years ago. She was real to me though, as real as the air I breathed. I just wished I knew what the fuck had happened.
————
Thirty minutes.
Ray wasn’t normally one to show up late. She’d always been early or right on time. Late, though, was a rarity. I’d called her twice, and neither time had she picked up.
I tapped my fingers anxiously against the wood of my desk as I stared blankly at the screen. I was supposed to be working, supposed to be finishing off the deal to buy the land. I’d been staring at a map of the area for nearly ten minutes, my vision blurry, unable to focus on anything specific. I’d forgotten what I was even looking for.
A night of restless sleep wasn’t something I normally struggled to bounce back from but coupled with the indignation I felt at how the entirety of last night had gone down, I couldn’t get through the haze of exhaustion. A new lift. That’s what you’re looking for. The area for a new lift.
Rubbing at my eyes, my sight slowly filtered in through the haze as I tried to focus on the map. There… I could put a lift there, between the trail that ran down the left side of the land and the right. Shit, no, that wouldn’t work. Too much unstable terrain at the top.
My phone buzzed from the other side of my desk. I nearly toppled everything off trying to get to it. Raven. My stomach sank the moment I read her name. So many things could be wrong—a health scare with her mother, a car accident, Zane meddling yet again. The options were endless. I was just happy that whatever it was, she was alive.
I’m sick. Back tomorrow.
Scratch that. I wasn’t happy with whatever it was. I was annoyed and frustrated. Whether she was hungover or just angry, I’d rather she be with me. I shot a text back.
I can bring you medicine if you need it.
I stared at the screen for minutes, awaiting her reply. Nothing came.
Ice Bunny was back, and knowing my luck, she was back for good. Guess she really didn’t have feelings to begin with, and if she did, it was a sick and twisted fucking act she was putting on for me.
Chapter 29
Ray
Being able to roll up my passenger side window for the first time in months felt like the biggest possible win I could have been given. At least there was one positive from my time with Wade, along with the extra cash. For now, anyway.
I knew that going to work wasn’t in my best interest considering the chance of him being in the office was high, and I knew I needed to look for work elsewhere. I didn’t believe he was bad enough to fire me after this, wasn’t as malicious as my previous boss, James, had been. But I couldn’t mend my heart if I was sitting ten feet from him.
I pushed the main door to the office open. My stomach churned, but I would do what I needed to do, schedule what I needed to schedule, and get the fuck out at the end of the day. I hoped I wouldn’t have to see him or interact with him.
Except for the fact that he was standing in the middle of reception, speaking to Holly from human resources.
His eyes met mine in a flash, dark irises flaring. Holly excused herself within a second, scurrying away into the recesses of the office to mingle with everyone else, leaving me alone with the one person I was desperate not to see.
“Good morning, Ray,” he said.
